Memories
by WhenWereThrough
Summary: A moment frozen in time...


A small pebble sunk somewhere in the middle of the pond as ripples lead back to the shore where a small preteen Mi'qote crouched between the reeds. Grumbling to himself he stood up and ran a hand through his messy black locks. N'yx Yun turned his gold eyes towards the village, unsure if he was willing to return just yet.

The sun was directly overhead telling him it was about midday and around lunch time, his stomach rumbled in agreement. If he stayed out here he would need food. Maybe he could scavenge, N'yx thought as he began looking around for... well... something.

Rew Jenks made her way down the path to the pond, looking for her friend. She spotted him and smiled widely, picking up her pace over to him.

"N'yx! There you are!" Rew ran over to him, tripping and falling on her face in the process. She blinked and pushed herself up, "I've been looking for you everywhere, you seemed upset"

N'yx half heartedly glared over that the little pink thing heading towards him. Her clumsiness was endearing to him, but he knew a grouchy N'yx tended to be a mean one as well. He wouldn't want to hurt her even if he did wish to be left alone a little longer.

'Don't be mean to Rew, little Canthor' his mother had warned him, 'She's going to stay with us for a while and you need to be nice' N'yx's mother, Fang Yun, had told him. At that time he had been being grumpy and complaining about how Rew was a little pink nuisance that would slow them down. Even if he didn't think that any longer, Fang had eventually had gotten N'yx to promise to take care of girl.

"I'm fine, Rew." N'yx finally grumbled out offering a forced smile. He laughed a little and looked away, "You hungry? I was going to catch some fish."

N'yx picked up his spear, twirling it as he walked further away along the water.

Rew blinked at him before tilting her head, "You-.."

She bit her lip to keep quiet, knowing not to push the Miq'ote. He was her only friend after all. N'yx and his mother were the only family she had.

Rew smiled softly and nodded, "Yeah...I could eat" She shuffled over to him quickly and smiled. "Can I help? I promise I won't get in the way like last time"

She blushed in embarrassment at the memory. It had been her first time ever fishing and she had ended up scaring all the fish away by falling into the lake, only to have N'yx's mother fish her back out. She hated the thought of being a burden to the only family she had, the thought of N'yx or Fang growing tired and leaving her behind frightened her to the brink of nightmares.

Rew grabbed a nearby stick and held it up as if she had a lance as well, smiling brightly up at N'yx, "I can help, I promise"

N'yx eyed the crooked stick in Rew's hand as he continued further away from the village. Even if she managed to hit a fish, she'd never pierce it with the blunt end... and it was crooked... very crooked. As it stood, he had probably already scared of half of the fish off with his rock skipping, he didn't need Rew splashing everywhere as well.

But he couldn't just say that... "Why don't you gather up some sticks and kindling instead?" N'yx said more a command than question. "I'll handle the fish. What kind of hunter would I be if I let someone else get me my food?"

Rew nodded reluctantly, she ran off and began gathering sticks around the pond. She would glance over in N'yx's direction every so often to watch him. Rew knew better than to question N'yx or his mother so she did her best to do as told, even if she didn't exactly enjoy it.

N'yx twirled his spear as he eyed the water looking for signs of his soon to be lunch. There was a group of small fish close by, but that wouldn't do…no he needed something bigger. Seeing a glimpse of a large shadow, N'yx carefully waded in to the warm water. What was that thing? The shadow was just a bit further out.

By the time N'yx stopped the water had reached his belly button. He was farther out than he was used to, but hopefully it would be worth it. Grinning as he saw the shadow, N'yx thrust the spear down piercing his aquatic pray.

N'yx yelped in shock as he felt teeth sink into his ankle "AHHH!"

Rew jerked her head up as she heard him scream, fear creeping up into her chest. Dropping the sticks in her arms, she ran into the water after N'yx. Rew held her breath and dove in, not caring what was underneath but focused solely on her friend's safety.

Once she reached the creature, Rew grabbed a rock and beat the thing into unleashing its teeth. Rising to the surface, Rew yanked N'yx out of the water, fearing that the blood might draw bigger and more deadly creatures near.

"Hold still..." She held out her hands and began to cast cure on his ankle, esuna following shortly after to kill off any possible infection or poison in his bloodstream. Rew looked up at N'yx "You okay?"

"It- It- It BIT me!"

Angered the young Yun jumped up and charged back into the water, his spear still standing straight up. Grabbing the spear with both hands, N'yx maneuvered the blade out of the water.

The fish didn't even flop as it hung heavily from the bladed end of the spear. Its face was half caved in, eyes blank and dead. Most importantly the fish was huge, enough to feed them both three times over.

Grinning madly, N'yx hauled the meal back to the shore. "Look how big it is!"

Rew blinked at him before starting the fire and waving him over, "It'll make a great lunch then" She smiled at him, "It'll be enough to feed us for days."

Still grinning like an idiot, N'yx passed the dead fish over to Rew and without even waiting for her to reach it, he dropped the dead fish on her head.

"Thanks for the help, Rew" N'yx bit back a snicker as the greenish blue scaled fish dwarfed the little Mi'qote.

Rew shuttered at the fish landing on her head, falling back at the weight of it. She shoved the fish aside before cleaning and cooking up a portion for both of them.

Smiling over at N'yx as she passed him his plate, "Here's your food, glad I could help."

N'yx took the fish from his comrade and began wolfing down the food. "Thans Wew" N'yx said with his worst table manners if only to annoy Rew.

It really was good though. His portion was gone in record time by the time he glanced over the pink thing again.

Rew had barely eaten one third of her food as she watched him finish. She glanced down and played with her food before offering him her portion. "Here, you seem hungrier than I am."

N'yx grinned, "Nah, but uh... thanks for making the food. And uh... stuff... yeah"

By the end of it, N'yx was blushing, embarrassed thinking of how he had to be saved by such a small clumsy thing like Rew. Usually it was him saving her.

She smiled softly at him and nodded, "No need to thank me, we're in this together...right?" Rew felt pretty good about helping her friend, for once she wasn't the helpless clumsy pink thing that got in the way.

N'yx smiled softly, "yeah, thanks" The preteen couldn't help but let out a yawn of contentment. He stretched and laid back against the soft green grass.

Rew smiled and laid back, watching the clouds. "Excited about your first real hunt?"

"Yeah" N'yx grinned, "mum's gonna be so proud. I just know it" fantasies for victory and slain behemoths flitted through N'yx's eyes. It would finally be his time to shine

Rew giggled and glanced over at him, "I'm sure of it." She went back to watching the clouds, admiring N'yx for his bravery and thankful to have a family again.


End file.
